Respirator.



F. STERN.

RESPIRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED ran. 4. 1915.

1,142,990. Patented June 15 1915.

A e t: Inventor.

Q "I a FREDERICK STERN, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK.

RESPIRATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915.

Application filed February 4, 1915. Serial No. 6,005.

' To all whom itmcy concern gases or smoke,

Be it known that I, FREDERICK STERN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New Rochelle, in the county of Westchester, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Respirators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part' hereof.

This invention relates to respirators intended for use by grinders, millers, cutler's and other workers employed in industries where the presence of dust, bacteria, noxious or other deleterious foreign elements, is a necessary incident of the occupation in which the workers are employed. Respirators, generally, are very old and attempts, of more or less seriousness, have been made to eliminate, to some extent, some of the larger elements which are inhaled by workers employed under the conditions noted briefly above. Such' attempts, however, have been toward a mere refinement of screening processes, as such, and have not been of great practical benefit to humanity inasmuch as the screening devices employed were not those adapted to accomplish in a scientific manner the results aimed at. For instance, it has been proposed to use ordinary screening wire orcloth gauze or other material wherein the mesh is either so large comparatively as to furnish no substantial protection to the lungs of the wearer or else shut off to too great a degree the free passage of air. The objections to these comparative'ly crude attempts to withhold allv noxious substances from the lungs of the user of the respirator being evident then, the improved construction of the applicant,

which is based on scientific principles involving the art of ed out generally.

In accordancewith the invention,the body of the respiratofis formed with what may be termed aseparator as distinguished from a mere screening device, which separator is separation, may be pointcomposed of layers of fabric of a peculiar character and each possessing such properties when considered alone and with respect to the other layers of fabric, as .to separate" from the pure-oxygen bearingair all inj urious substances, the separation effected by each layer of fabric, when not absolute, be ing supplemented by the separation carried on by the remaining layers. These fabrics tion of all noxious air to be breathed.

-is adjustable to features compound of agreeable in the improved separator so supplement each other as to insure the absolute separaelements -from the pure The improved separator marks a further advance in the art by reason of its light weight and its consequent adaptability to constant wear without objection, by any worker. It is of such dimensions as to e brace, with a snug fit, only the nostrils and mouth and to leave exposed all other parts of the face. By reason of the lightness of weight and the compactness, the improved respirator does not interfere with the wearing of eye-glasses by the user.

The invention further seeks to improve respirators by providing one which is of yielding material throughout and therefore not liable to injury through any deformation. The frame of the body is pliable and yet of suflicient stiffness to maintain any shape given it. In this way, the respirator of any size or shape and therefore may be made of standard size 1 and yet used by any person. Further, the

yielding character of the body insures the durability of the respirator and makes it peculiarly adaptable to under which such devices are commonly employed.

Another object ofthe invention is to reduce the cost of devices of the character described so as to bring them within the reach of any worker and, by so doing, remove one of the principal objections now offered to legislation directed to the requirement of the use of respirators by all workers in certain trades. In cheapening the cost of construction, the present invention points out a method by which the body ofthe respirator may be readily cut from suitable material and, when assembled, will not only fit accurately the features of any one, but willyield along its edge so as to follow at each point movement of the features, as during conversation. This adaptability of the improved body prevents the accidental inhaling of foreign substances.

he improved respirator, in addition to the devices for effecting the absolute separation of matter from the air, contemplates the provision of an auxiliary pad whlch may be readily attached to or detached from the body 'of the respirator, as condltlons of use require, and which may odor, or of certain the rough conditions be saturated with a required chemical properties, adapted to neutralize the effects of dangerous gases, so that, when in position, the worker is secure against unpleasant odors or the eifect of dangerous gases.

Other features of the invention will be noted more particularly hereinafter, reference now being bad to the accompanying drawings for a detailed description of the preferred embodiment.

In these drawings-Figure 1 shows the improved respirator in position on the face of a wearer. Fig. 2 is a detail view in perspective and on a somewhat larger scale of the respirator shown in Fig. 1, part being broken away to show the adjustable nose frame and the layers of fabric of the separator proper, the saturating pad being removed.

Fig. 3' is a view in section, taken on the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the saturating pad, the covering thereof being broken away to show the inner layer of material. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the pad, taken on the plane indicated :by the ine 5-5 of Fig. 4, and looking in the direction of thearrows. Fig. 6 is a plan view'of the body of the improved respiratorshowing its peculiar outline before it is assembled.

The respirator comprises a body portion a,

' shaped generally as a truncated cone, and having its edge of such outline as to pass over the nose .of the wearer and embrace the nostrils,

the respirator, when in position, serving to exclude all injurious elements from the nose and the mouth. In dimensions and weight, the improved respirator is very small and light, so that its. use is not objectionable to any wearer, and so that it will not create any appreciable amount of heat and induce perspiration. In order to support the it respirator properly on the'nose, it has em- .tially in bodied in its edge seam, indicated at a, a pliable piece of stifl' wire 6, indicated pardotted outline in Fig. 2, which passes over the bridge of the nose, and may e shaped by pressure of the fingers to embrace snugly the nose of anywearer regardless of the size or shape-thereof. As the body of the respirator is of pliable material otherwise, it will be understood that no part of it is susceptible to injury, but may .be used roughly without impairing its dimension. These fabrics are not of the usual typein that the strands are not interwoven so as to overlap in the sense that no openings are left-between them or, if .any are left, are merely incidental or accidental. In practice,- it has been found that silk bolting cloth formed with such a mesh as above described and with approximately three hundred strands to the lineal inch, and wire cloth or gauze formed with approximately the same number of strands to the lineal 'ldlch, when placed together in the manner illustrated in the drawings, will supplement the effect of each other on injurious fore gn substances and noxious gases as to 'brmg about a scientific and absolute separation of .such'elements from the air to be drawn into the lungs. One of the peculiarities of silk bolting cloth is that its strands-are relatively yielding so that foreign substances have a tendency to force the strands apart and so pass through 'the openings therebetween. On the other hand, wire cloth of thecharac- -t er described, is formed with strands which are relatively unyielding and so are absolute in their separating effect. By placing a layer of wire cloth 0 of the character described between two layers ofsilk bolting cloth d of the character described, it has been found that a respirator of absolute separating properties is provided.

-In regardto the character of the fabrics to be used in the improved respirator, it is of interest to note that, the peculiar and uniform mesh of each, even where there are three hundred strands to the lineal inch, can be observed readily under a microscope. The-apertures thus observed permit pure air and oxygen to pass freely therebetween while the great number of strands serve to block the passage of foreign substances.

The separator constructed in the manner pointed out may conveniently be of oval shape, as shown in Fig. 2, and may be united securely with the body a of the respirator.

The improved respirator is provided with devices, indicated as spring studs 6, preferably placed adjacent the periphery of the separator proper, for supporting a saturatmg pad 7, on which are carried sockets e to cooperate with the studs 6, in a'manner well known. The saturating pad f is similar in outline to the separator proper, in the illustrated embodiment, an oval, and may be built up of some suitable absorbent and aseptic material, such as muslin g, faced, if

desired, with some other fabric k. When this pad is saturated, it may be buttoned on to the body a of the respirator and the compound thereon may be of such character as agreeab e to the smell, or, in fact, injurious The respirator may conveniently .be atwithin the tached to the head of strips of tape 5 edges of the body a and carrying, respectively, sockets z" and spring studs 6 adjacent the free ends. One or another of the studs 5 may be placed in engagement with the socket z" according to the size of the head of the wearer, as will be understood.

'One feature of the invention which remainsto be described consists in the formation of the body a, as illustrated in'Fig. 6. This body is cut from suitable pliable material, as impervious cloth, rubber or the like, and is in outline substantially of horseshoe shape, a curved recess a being formed opposite the opening between the legs to receive the nose of the wearer. The body a after being cut to the general form shown in Fig. 6 may have the free edges, indicated generally at a brought'together and united, as indicated by the seam a body then taking the shape of the truncated cone shown in Fig. 2, and being of suchoutline as to cover the nostrils and mouth and yet conform'readily to all movements of the face muscles, as during conversation.

The description given has set forth with some particularity one of the embodiments of the invention whereby a respirator embodying all of the advantages pointed out, may be constructed, but it is to be under stood that modifications thereof may be made so long as such modifications fall spirit of the invention and are covered by the appended claims.

of the wearer by means. fastened to the opposite wearer, the single of Fig. 2, the- I claim as my invention:

1. A body for .a respirator formed of a single piece of pliable materialhaving in plan the general form of a horseshoe and indented along the edge opposite the branches of the U to conform to the nose of the piece of material having its straight edges united to form a substantially conical body.

A respirator comprising, in combination, a body of substantially conical shape formed of relatively light material and having yielding edges to engage the face, a nose covering carried by the body, a stiff but pliable frame secured to the body along the nose covering, whereby the nose covering can be shaped to fit snugly the face of the wearer, a separator formed of an oval shaped piece of wire cloth faced with similarly shaped pieces of silk bolting cloth, said cloth being formed of a very fine but regular and uniform mesh, a saturating pad of a shape similar to the shape of the separatorv and lying thereover and having embodied therein material of absorbent properties, cooperating spring fasteners carried respectively by the ody and by the pad, adjustable head and straps secured to the ody This specification signed and witnessed this 1st day of February, A. D. 1915.

FREDERICK STERN. 4 Signed in the presence of FRANCIS J. MURPHY,

WORTHINGTON CAMPBELL. 

